COLORADO SPRINGS, COLO. -- In Part 1 of this story, FOX21 News told about a 1995 vehicular homicide that left 33-year-old Billy Palmer dead.
The man responsible, Angelo Martinez, received one of the stiffest penalties for such a crime in Colorado's history. He got that sentence largely because court investigators found Martiinez unremorseful and untreatable.
"I wasn't going to quit drinking until I wanted to quit," Martinez said.
Martinez started abusing alcohol when he was just 12 years old, but it took 38 criminal charges -- all of which he attributes to alcohol use -- before he would serve any considerable time in prison.
FOX21 News asked if was there anything his wife, parents could have said or done to stop Martinez from drinking.
"At the time, no," he said. "It's like that old saying -- you never think it's going to happen to you. It just goes to show whatever you do it will catch up with you one day," Martinez said.
Without Palmer's death, Martinez's prison time could have been months, not years.
"After any number of drunk driving, we give the same potential penalty on the first one as we do the ninth ,and you know with the good time and earned time they don't serve a year," said prosecuting attorney Dan May.
Colorado is one of only four states in the country without a felony D.U.I. enhancement.
"We need that," May said.
The idea died in the Colorado legislature in 2007 because of budget concerns.
Asked whether or not it makes sense to support a law that says "at X amount of times you are getting a felony DUI enhancement," one local legislator said it's a cost issue.
"At this point, no. It costs too much money. Money is everything in the state of Colorado. We have one of the leanest budgets in the country," said State Rep. John Morse.
Other representatives say it's time to figure out how to make a felony D.U.I. enhancement fiscally possible.
"I do think we are too lenient in this state. My commitment to my house district has always been tough on crime," said State Rep. Marsha Looper.
So is this something the community can count on Looper to study and try to get on the books for 2010?
"Absolutely," Looper said.
But she'll have to convince people like Morse who would prefer to see more D.U.I. treatment programs.
"We've got to figure out how to modify behavior," Morse said.
FOX21 News found two different studies on effective ways to modify behavior. A 2008 study by the Colorado Department of Human Services shows treatment does reduce the likelihood drunk drivers will re-offend by about 3 percent.
Even so, of the more than 30,000 people arrested each year in Colorado, about 10,000 have had at least one prior D.U.I. conviction. Nearly 6,000 have had at least three of them -- an alarming rate considering the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration believes the average drunk driver drives over the legal limit 80 times a year and the likelihood of getting caught is only 1 in 2,000.
A different study by the NHTSA shows intense enforcement to be more effective. In Stockton, CA, it reduced drunk driving and serious accidents by a third.
Intense enforcement is what convinced Martinez to change.
"That wasn't until about eight years into my incarceration," he said.
Asked what changed, Martinez said, "I didn't want to spend anymore time in here. So I had to really dig deep inside myself and ask myself some questions."
That's when Martinez entered himself into a one-year, 24-7 therapeutic community at the prison.
"It just opened my eyes to all the hurt and pain I've caused all my victims through my drinking," Martinez said. "The only way I can prove to them I am sorry is to never let it happen again, and that is what I plan on doing."
Police in Colorado Springs will hold a D.U.I checkpoint in Palmer's honor on Saturday, May 23.
As far as future legislation, Looper said she will look at writing a felony D.U.I enhancement bill this summer.
In the meantime, May said he is looking at ways to charge with murder repeated D.U.I offenders who eventually kill someone.
Click on the camera icon to view the story as it aired on FOX21 News.
